Interview with Robbie G
Interview with Robbie G – Winner of Canada’s Best Independent Hip Hop Music Video
You’re currently on your “One With The Elements” tour across Canada. How’s the tour going?
Tour is going great! One of my favourite things about making music is being able to share it and I’m lucky to be able to share this new body of work all across the country I love!
Your video for Incredible won Canada’s Best Independent Hip Hop Music Video, can you tell us about the inspiration behind the song and it’s video?
The inspiration was working with Mansuki, He inspired me to write the first verse and then I sent it to him to do his thing, the video we wanted to make look epic so I rented out the arena in my hometown of Guelph and we brought in smoke machines and a drone and captured some incredible footage, we also snuck onto the U of G football field to get some dope shots with the drone. I wanted to showcase my hometown so we went all over the city to shoot this one!
The song features singer Mansuki, who’s voice is the perfect addition to the track. How did that collaboration come about?
He’s someone who reached out to my company about opening for larger shows we do and once I heard his music I knew we needed to work together. I showed him mine and we were set to start working. He sent me a track to get on for his project and I sent him a track for mine and that’s how it came to be, we’ve had the chance to perform it at some amazing shows including opening for Nelly and Wu-Tang Clan!
What’s the next Robbie G video going to look like?
I’m going to get real creative with my next video, It’s for a song on my new album and I want it to look very artsy. We’ll have some painting in the video, possibly body painting, face painting and more.
Can you tell us a few Canadian hip hop artists on your phone’s playlist right now?
Classified, Merkules, Snak The Ripper, Quake Matthews.
You’ve recently toured with Obie Trice and Fetty Wap, got any good tour stories from either of those to share with us?
Nothing to crazy, I try and explore when I’m on tour so the best part of the tours for me is just checking out new places and seeing the landscape. I post often on my snapchat @robbieghiphop and my instagram story @robbieg.hiphop for anyone who wants to take the behind the scenes adventure while I’m on the road check those out!
You’re a big contributor to your cities sound, can you tell us about the music scene in Guelph?
It’s been amazing to be a part of and incredible to watch the city grow over the years. Before we didn’t have much of a hip-hop scene in Guelph and now I find that it almost dominates the city with the biggest artists coming through being hip-hop artists. We’ve had everyone from T..I. to The L.O.X., Akon, Nelly, Classified, Swollen Members, Merkules and more come to perform in our small city. The music scene as a whole though is amazing! There’s tons of great musicians here and shows happening every week from every genre. Lots to take in!
You’ve opened for some pretty amazing artists, from Wu Tang Clan to Insane Clown Posse to Sean Paul to Akon. How do you adjust your set to suit all these different fan bases?
I keep my music very versatile and I make music that I love. I love a ton of different styles of hiphop and I like to incorporate it all into my performances. I do old school boom bap songs as well as high energy EDM tracks and everything in between. I make sure to have my set suit the audience and am very aware of the type of songs to bring to each concert.
You’re not only a successful rapper, but also a promoter, engineer and entrepreneur. Can you tell us about your work in these areas and R-Evolution Media?
I created my company R-Evolution Media out of necessity because there was no hiphop events being thrown in my city. After seeing the results and what we were able to do in my hometown I started seeing the need in many places closeby and I wanted to help my friends get shows booked so I branched out and started building more events in cities all around the area. Now we put on events all across the country! I have a great team in place and tons of people supporting the company and the brand. It’s been quite a journey but I’m loving every minute of it!
Being an engineer you have a lot more control over your recordings than most rappers, can you tell us about how this lends to your sound and little about your recording process?
I record 90% of my material by myself alone in my studio. I don’t have anyone telling me what I should or shouldn’t be doing and I can keep my sound very much my own. Ever since I started I always had my own studio setup and I feel it’s essential to any musician who wants to take their music seriously to have a place to be able to record at all times.
You’ve toured the country multiple times, what are a few of your favourite spots to play?
I love my hometown Guelph of course! Some of the other cities I’ve really enjoyed playing for are the smaller cities. Not much comes to those places and when it does everyone comes out and supports! Places like Nanaimo, Alert Bay, Vernon, Parry Sound, Amherst & Belleville. The people in these small towns are so welcoming to musicians playing and they are increidbly supportive!
What do you have coming up in 2019?
I’ll be releasing my new album One With The Elements and adding a few more dates to my tour schedule. I’ll be doing a couple shows with Snoop Dogg in May that I’m very excited about and I’ll be shooting some new music videos and continuing to release more remixes on my Gmix series. You can check it all out on my website www.robbieghiphop.com
How did you get to where you are today?
Perseverance and dedication to the craft. I’ve been knocked down alot in my career but the key was to always get back up and keep moving forward. You never know what’s around the corner. Having a positive mindstate is key and also having a very serious work ethic.
Do you have any advice for up and coming Canadian hip hop artists?
Don’t let others tell you what you can and can’t do. Make the choice and execute. Don’t be afraid to fail. Give it your all and do what makes you happy.
